Car Keys

I know My blog is usually about my life in the "now" but I have a pretty funny story that I'd like to blog about, I don't know what reminded me of this but I just had to share.  It's really long but if you feel like being semi-entertained then take the time to read it..

Let's travel all the way back in time to the year 2003, My freshman year of college. I had just joined a sorority and we went to all the parties around campus. We hung out with one fraternity in particular that always partied at a guy's house named PJ. PJ lived with is parents in a huge two story house, with a huge deck out back. He lived in the downstairs area, which was like a second house itself with a kitchen, living room, etc. PJ's parents were cool, and would come hang out with us sometime, but for the most part they didn't care how many people were partying at their house, and sometimes there would be close to 100 people there.

We all became really close, those of us who partied together on a regular basis. We were always at PJ's, we'd even have study groups meet at his house to study before we started partying. It was probably the only reason I passed college...those study groups :) PJ's was fun, they started a Midnight Madness party where you woke up at midnight and partied until sunrise...I never did attend those parties, I'd planned on it but once I was asleep, there was no waking me up. There were also White Trash Wednesdays, where you dressed like white trash and partied every Wednesday..hence the name.  My favorite costume was where I dressed as a pregnant woman with a black eye and kept a cigarette behind one ear...(thanks Erin) ha!

There was this one guy, Ed, that we partied with that never knew when enough was enough. He would drink himself into a stupor every night and pass out. It became an on going joke to draw on him with Sharpies once he was out. He was also known for wetting himself quite often while passed out. It's kind of sad now that I think about it, we probably should've gotten him some kind of help, but back then it was funny.

One night me and a couple of my Sorority Sisters went over to PJ's house for a party. Late into the night me and my girlfriend, we'll call her Natoshya, went to pee in the bathroom. We went in together because we're girls and that's what we do. Natoshya was paranoid about peeing in a bathroom with a shower/shower curtain because she was always afraid some immature perverted boy would be back there hiding. After telling me this I laughed and told her there was no one behind that shower curtain and then flung the shower curtain back...much to my surprise, laying in the empty tub, was Ed. He was passed out drunk and there was writing all over him. His pants were wet, and low and behold someone had shaved half of his head bald.

We both screamed because we were so startled that someone was actually behind the shower curtain. Apparently, he had wet himself and so they just put him in the tub incase it happened again. The boys got a big kick out of us being startled and then moved Ed into a bedroom and put him to sleep on the floor.

Well, as the night came to a close we started to get our coats together and leave. That's when I realized that my car keys were not in my coat pocket.  Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm very bad at keeping up with things. I misplace everything that isn't attached to my body on a daily basis. Sean gets really mad at me for it but I can't help that I'm absent minded, I'm really working on it. Anyway, we turned the entire house upside down looking for my car keys and finally gave up and I luckily had a spare key in my gas tank.

The next day I returned to PJ's house to look for my keys.  It was an expensive set to loose...My dorm keys were on my key ring and if you lost your dorm keys then you had to pay 100 bucks.  Not to menion the 50 bucks you had to pay for a replacement key for my Jeep. We had no luck finding my keys and I finally just gave up and kicked myself in the butt for being so careless.

As the semester was coming to a close and it became time to turn in my dorm keys, of course they were still missing.  I just couldn't help but search one more time for my keys at PJ's house. I thought maybe I should look under his deck incase they fell out of my coat pocket and fell between the cracks in the deck. We searched and searched under that deck and I didn't find my keys, but you'll never guess what I did find... A Ziploc baggy full of hair. I held it up and yelled, "PJ, what in the world his this?"  PJ fell to the ground laughing...apparently it was Ed's hair from that night a few months earlier.  After they had shaved his hair off, they saved it to give to him the next day. Ew..

To make the story even more weird... four years later, my senior year I got a call from PJ. His parents were redoing the deck and the flowerbeds around the deck. They had uncovered a set of keys in the flowerbeds that looked like they might belong to me. Sure enough, four years later, I found my keys. Even though I had already paid the fine for loosing my dorm keys, and I had a new vehicle and no longer needed the car keys, I was glad to have found them.

I always find what I loose, sooner or later.

Valentines Day

This week Momma M is hosting a Valentine themed week.  Today is Engagement stories.  I really hate writing about mine and Sean's mushy gushy-ness because really there isn't any.  But I'll give it my best shot to mushy it up a bit.

Sean and I were living in Houston when we got engaged. See our above engagement photo. I was living in an apartment on the outskirts of Houston and Sean lived about 15 minutes from me in Baytown in a Camper Trailer because he got paid Per Deim if he lived in a Camper and didn't set up permanent residence...And I wasn't about to live in a camper.  I really had some fun times in Houston because we got to do all the big city stuff and it was just me and Sean, but I was SOOO Homesick, we were 6 hours from my home and my friends and family.

Anyway back to the proposal..Sean and I talked about getting married all the time. In fact I had helped him pick out my diamond online from Diamonds.com and I even watched him pay for it...But he told me it would be awhile before he was ready to get married and he wanted to save up enough money to buy a pretty ring setting to put it in. This was August of 2007 and we'd been dating about a year and a half.

From then on out I was always expecting him to propose to me, but he never did. I even wondered if maybe he really didn't order a diamond. We went home once or twice a month and I kept wondering if he asked my parents but he was never with my parents and not with me so I knew he hadn't. I really thought maybe he'd changed his mind.

I had totally given up on a marriage proposal and in the meantime buried myself in work. At this time I was selling insurance and I was so Homesick I cried myself to sleep every night. I was very emotionally unstable because I was so homesick. It's quite sad how homesick I was to be honest... I worked across the road from a Bass Pro Shop and I would go there on my lunch break just because it reminded me of home because it was "outdoors-y." That's how pathetically homesick I was...

Anyway.. I had my license to sell property and causality insurance at the time but wanted to get my Life and Health insurance license. To get your license you have to take a test, and though it's not that hard, there is a lot of memorization and there was way to much on my mind at the time. I studied for the exam but was so distracted by being homesick that I never really learned much. I went to take the test and failed miserably. I felt awful because my employer had just shelled out 150 bucks for me to take this test. Before I left the testing site I made sure and signed up to take it two weeks later, in Mid November on the 14th. I studied some more but again, I was so distraught It didn't really matter much. I took the test again and again I failed it by ONE point!! I was solo upset.

I called in sick to the rest of the day of work and went home crying. I had to stop on the side of the road on the way home because I was so upset. I had just cost my boss another 150 bucks, and I just felt stupid because that test should have been simple. I called Sean and asked him to come over when he could so I could feel a little better. He came over shortly after I got home and suggested that we Go out to eat and go down to Kemah, TX and hang out on the boardwalk, he said that would take my mind off of being homesick and take my mind off of flunking that stupid test.

We had a wonderful time at dinner. We ate at a Japanese steak house on the Boardwalk and had a great time watching the chef prepare our meal. There was a live band out that night on the board walk and the night was beautiful and the temperature was perfect. I had totally forgotten about the test and even forgot about being homesick a little bit.

I wanted to buy some tickets to play some games so Sean went and bought a few and we did all the dart balloon games, softball through, water gun races, etc. Sean suggested that we go on the Farris wheel to spend the last few tickets we had but the wind was blowing so hard that I just suggested we go up in the observation tower so we could look out and see the lights of Houston. We were the only ones in the Tower. It slowly spins around as you rise to the top and then slowly spins back down.

As we were looking over Houston I was really close to the glass and Sean was behind me sitting down, it was breathtaking.  The lights were beautiful.  Sean then kneeled down off the seat and I thought he was like having some kind of episode because he was scared of heights or something.  I looked down at him and he pulled my ring out of his pocket and told me he loved me and asked me to marry him.

I was completely suprised and shocked.  I was totally not expecting a proposal, I just thought he was trying to cheer me up from the crying fit I had earlier from failing the test.   The first words that spilled out was.. Did you really already ask my parents?!  He laughed and said yes and I was in shock for the rest of the evening and called everyone I knew on the way home.  It was perfect!  

This was right as we were leaving.. I had been crying.

The setting he picked out for my ring is exactly what I would've picked out. It's beautiful and surrounded with diamonds. I'm a very lucky Girl! It's a carat solitaire and then another half carat in diamonds on the band and wedding ring...this was when it was new and shiny :)

It's not so shiny now, I should go get it cleaned...

  For my wedding shower my cousin Erin got me a photo that is the acutal skyline of Houston on the 14th of November, the night Sean Proposed.  The caption says "Night Sky over Houston"  "November 14th 2007, Sean asked and Jenna said yes."  It was the Theme for my extra bathroom, Notice I painted the wall the same blue as the sky :)  ...you can buy these online but I'm not sure where...

I love this photo because It is EXACTLY what I was looking at when Sean proposed...from that height and that exact view...I even remember thinking the moon looked so pretty.  Now I can look at that skyline anytime I go to the extra bathroom to pee and remember that night exactly! haha

Thanks for stopping by...sorry it was so long!!

Random Things

Random Tuesday Thoughts...

I've been so busy at work I've abandoned my blog.

Momma's Birthday was yesterday.  She turned 29*..Happy Birthday Mom!!

Last night Sean and I had a really big important discussion about The Chocolate Children.  We** decided that since it's getting warmer outside that they need to start staying outside.  Their shedding is getting unbareable and our house is being over run by dog hair and I'm pretty sure I saw a dust bunny the size of a small cat run under the bed last night.  No matter how much I clean, mop, vacuum, sweep, or lint roll, the hair multiplies like rabbits.  I finally decided enough was enough when I was doing yoga at the gym, took my shoes off, and my socks were COVERED in chocolate hair.

* Maybe she's not 29
** By we I mean Sean

We put the dogs outside last night, made sure their bed was warm enough and  went inside and had a peaceful nights sleep.  I awoke this morning to two dogs asleep beside the bed.  I did not let them in, Sean did not let them in.  I have NO IDEA how they got inside...  It still remains a mystery...though I vaguely remember dreaming of dogs last night.  We've decided I slept walked and let the dogs in...this isn't good.

I left my computer charger at my parents house in Nashville this weekend.  I have an apple.  I went to best buy to buy a new charger but then changed my mind when I saw they were $75!!!   I promptly called mom and asked her to mail it so I am without a personal computer until it arrives.  Which also means that unless work slows down (outlook not good)  Then my blog will be boring and pictureless for a few days a posts will be few and far between.

I have a new obsession with Lipton Diet Green Tea with Citrus.  It makes my taste buds very happy and has replaced my obsession with Coke Zero.  He will be missed but replaced with a much healthier Man.

I watched American Pickers last night on the History Channel and I want to go Antique shopping ASAP!  I'm kind of wanting to go this weekend so that may be a big possiblity unless I get bored with the Idea by then.

Did anyone Catch House last night??   It was ok, but next weeks episode looks SO good!!  This week was about a psychopath that has a heart condition and they can't figure out why. I had no idea that Psychcopaths couldn't feel emotion.  Is it sad that the only scientific stuff I learn is from Sitcoms (And Mythbusters)??  And is it really all accurate??

My workouts are going GREAT!  I worked out four times last week and have gotten to where I can run a mile in 10 minutes.  My goal is 8 minutes.  Last night I probably would've met that goal but the gym was packed and the only treadmill open was next to a guy who smelled like sweat and I almost threw up he smelled so bad and I had to stop running after I couldn't stand the smell any longer.  Thankfully I had already ran a mile during warm up so I didn't really miss out on much.  I do feel like Barbie though because I worked out my arms and they are so sore I cannot straighten them.   Total Weight Loss:   about 5 lbs (water weight but who cares!!)

This has been the most boring and longest post ever.  I do hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend and I hope your week gets better and better!  I will post when I can but until the mail man brings my computer charger I can't promise anything...and if you read my blog you know the Mail man in this area can't be trusted!

Happy Tuesday!!!!!

I Promise never to Go Again!

So if you read my last post you know that I went duck hunting with Sean Yesterday.  Kelsey commented on how hard core I was because of how cold it was yesterday morning but after she reads this post she might just want to retract that statement.

Get ready...this is a long one..

Sean and I traveled three hours north to my Mother's Family's Christmas dinner on Saturday night and we had a wonderful time!  I finally finished the WWII scrapbook for my Grandfather and he was just in awe of it and it made me so happy that he loved it!!  I guess I was in such a good mood on the drive home that I agreed to go Hunting with Sean so I could take some photos of them hunting.  Now last time I went Duck Hunting I was horribly cold the entire time and swore I'd never go again.  Sean assured me it wouldn't be so cold this time and that they would actually see some ducks as opposed to last time when we saw like two.

Sean was very wrong my friends.  Very wrong.

See we left North Arkansas at 8 pm and got back home at 11pm.  We gathered our clothes and drove another hour and a half to duck camp.. making our arrival time around 1:30 am.  The alarm jerked me awake at 4:30 am and I wanted to shoot it, except that no shot gun was in reaching distance.  So going on three restless hours of sleep...oh and I had to crawl in bed with Sean's brother because all the other beds were taken...at least I didn't have to sleep on the floor like Sean did.  So anyway going on three restless hours of sleep and zero food and drink, we loaded up and got on all the many layers of clothes and waders and drove out to a duck hole on the Bayou Meto in Stuttgart, Duck capitol of the US.

Let me just insert here that I'm a little bit moody when I only get three hours of sleep and have no food or drink...and there's a good reason for the no food or drink rule.  Last time I went I had to pee so bad that I almost fainted and Had to hold it for FOUR hours.  It's not possible to pee when you're in the woods in waist deep water in waders...not possible.  But even though I was moody, hungry, and thirsty, I was optimistic about this hunt!  I just knew I would fall in love with hunting as Sean has and we could go hunting as a couple next duck season and hold hands as we shoot ducks out of the sky.... I was very very wrong.

Within 20 minutes My toes went numb and I couldn't feel my face.  Sean told me to move around a bit so I walked in circles which wasn't easy in waste deep water and heavy waders on.  Finally the sun rose and we could hear other hunters shooting away, it sounded like bombs exploding all around us.  But um...why were we not seeing any ducks to shoot?

After the sun rose high enough for me to get good pictures I started taking photos which ended my boredom and got my mind off my cold feet until I took so many pictures it got boring again and we still weren't seeing any ducks.  I was so cold by this point that I thought my feet were going to fall off and I started praying that this miserable cold would disappear.

Sleepiness started to creep in at this point also, so I walked a good 200 yards to the boat, flung myself over the side and layed down for a good hour nap.  When I awoke, I could no longer feel my legs, my hands, or my face.  That's when the whining set in.  I wanted to cry.  I was hungry, sleepy, bored, and the coldest I'd ever been in my life.  My feet were burning they were so cold and I'm pretty sure that there was zero blood flow to them at this point.  I told Sean that if he took me back to the truck now I promise that I will never come again, that I had hypothermia and I am about to cry.  I'm sure his Dad and brother were annoyed but honestly I was so miserable I didn't care at this point.

Thankfully the hunt was dying down and an Hour later I was in the warmth of a heater and I still today cannot feel my toes.  I think I might have frost bite, which I delirously called freezer burn as we were leaving the bayou.  I also feel as if I'd been hit by a truck because in an effort to stay warm I did lunges, squats, ran in circles, toe rises, leg lifts, and any other excersize I could think of to stay warm.  It did not help me stay warm but it did help tone my muscles, which will be the only exercise I will do for the rest of this month because of how sore I am today.

After leaving the Mouse House we went to Mack's Prarie Wings, which is much like a bass pro shop except geared more towards water fowl hunting.  It was fun and we stayed there and looked around for awhile and spent too much money.

I got a few good photos, I'll be showing throughout the week. Here are my favorites of me, sean, and Banjo.

I don't know why but I really like this picture of Sean,  he looks so cute!!  I like Men in Camo!

Notice Sean's face paint, that is so when you look up at the ducks they won't see your shining white face.  He put some on me too but because I was so cold and had a face warmer over my entire face all day, it rubbed off a little.  This photo below is probably my favorite of me.  Sean took it on the boat ride out of there.  I was delirious, miserable, cold, half covered in face paint, and happy to know that a heater was just minutes away.

I love this photo of Banjo looking to the sky for ducks.  He looks so innocent and sweet, which he is!

So Totally needless to say the duck hunt was horrible.  We left the hole with two ducks and a promise that I would NEVER go hunting again, NEVER...unless it was hot outside, which is like saying when Hell freezes over. 

Hope you enjoyed my extra long post about me being a whiny baby.  And for the record my toes are still tingling and very much in pain from freezer burn.


Never Duck Hunting Again,

Only in Arkansas

Well I've been quite a bit busy the past week. We've been getting ready for the CRRA (Cowboy Regional Rodeo Association) finals in Ft. Smith. Tonight was the first go round. But before we get into the rodeo...check out how much Birdie has grown!! She's looking more and more like a lab every day and less like a awkward puppy.I've probably explained this before, but for those of you who don't know, Sean has more money won than any other Steer Wrestler (bulldogger) than any other guy in the CRRA. He's ahead of Mr. Chet Woodall out of Oklahoma, by 200 dollars only!!! The year end winner wins a saddle, a buckle, and bragging rights, etc. Sean and Chet have been battling it out for a couple months now. Chet's been in the lead all year and Sean just passed him up a few weeks ago. It all comes down to who wins the most money at the finals.

Tonight was round one of three. They pay four places in the rounds and six places in the average of all three rounds. Sean, being number one, was last to go. This guy, in the picture below, number 15 in the standings, was first to go. He's gonna feel that tomorrow...

Little Brother Jason is sitting in fourth place in the year end standings. He showed out tonight throwing his steer down in 3.9 seconds winning second in the average, a guy in front of him was a 3.7. Chet was second to last, being second place in the standings. He had an awesome run, throwing his steer down in 4.1 seconds, making him third place for the night. Which would win him about 400 dollars and pushing him 200 dollars ahead of Sean, if Sean were to not place.

As Sean backed his horse Frosty into the box my heart started beating so fast I thought I was going to cry. I don't understand how he stays so calm. Maybe it's beer?? Ha! Seriously though, I wouldn't be able to stand the pressure, knowing I could win the year end saddle and buckle and I had to be better than a 4.1 to make sure I didn't loose the lead?...couldn't handle it... I would buckle under the pressure.

Sean nodded and the steer took off with Frosty close behind. Sean slid off the saddle beautifully and the slammed the steer down. It was fast, I knew it was fast. I was standing behind the boxes so I knew the barrier wasn't broken. All we had to do now was wait to hear his time. I couldn't help but pray, "please beat 4.1 please beat 4.1." I knew it was way faster than a 4.1...i just knew it! Except...I was wrong. His time..... 4.1. He had tied Chet.

I was so relieved that he had won the exact same amount of money as Chet had, and was still 200 in the lead for the year end. The only problem is...I have to go through all of this again tomorrow!
After watching the video we got a little sick at our stomachs. Sean had a late flag, which means the judge dropped the flag a split second later than he should have making his time longer than it should have been. The judge told Sean after his run, "Man, I had to flag you late because you're steer had a leg underneath him" (which is a rule in steer wrestling, all four feet must be showing) Sean thought as he left the arena that he had just been unlucky and hung a leg.
After watching the video...there was no hung leg. The judge had just miss-judged.
I've told you before, everything during a Steer Wrestling run must be perfect, the horse, the steer, the hazer, the bulldogger, the judge, the timer, everything!
We are a little disappointed that Sean didn't place ahead of Chet but We are just excited that he won his entry fees back so far and there are two more nights to go which means two more chances to Win the Saddle. Be thinking of us tomorrow night around 8:00, hopefully Sean's time is faster than anyone elses!!

PS.
After the Rodeo we went to Sonic and saw this at the drive through...


Only in Arkansas Right??We talked to the interesting Character while eating our dinner on the picnic tables. He's been riding across country on horseback since 2006!!! He's started in Nevada, went down to Tombstone, Down into Old Mexico, back to Oklahoma and onto Arkansas. They are doing a documentary on him, calling him on his cell phone every two weeks and meeting him to film. He was so cool, had all his belongings on the back of the horse, tent, fishing pole, etc. He's actually staying at the Arena next to us tonight in his tent, we are in the live-in quarters horse trailer.

Sean said he would love to do that, I'd love it too but said I'd have to be able to take along more stuff than he did. Sean laughed and said it would take 4 or 5 pack mules to carry my crap across country Which is SOOO not true...

It would take two or three.

Goodnight!! have a great Friday and I'll be posting updates on the CRRA Finals tomorrow night!!


Only in Arkansas Right (from my window on the interstate)

God Slapped Me

A month or so ago I ran across a Verse that really spoke to me. Then not long after that MckMamma did a post on the same verse!
I just wanted to share a little with you about how it's opened my eyes. I've had the verse on my blog since I found it. It's Isaiah 55 8:9

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways." declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

It's no secret that Sean and I as a newly married couple are sometimes having to roll change to buy groceries. I mean Sean hasn't had a "real" job in three months, and I don't make that much yet. They tell me it takes a few years to make money in the insurance business. Sean is going to rodeos and working on the farm but when it rains, he can't do much on the farm and it's been a really wet summer and we've had to rely on his rodeo winnings, and I thank God that he's winning.

So now that you have our story....oh and don't pity me. Don't feel sorry for me. I'm not asking for sympathy I'm wanting to be a witness for God in what he's doing in our lives..it's just taking me awhile to get there..sorry I'll hurry up.

Anyways.. I'm what you might call a control freak. I tend to get a little bit nervous if I don't have control of every situation in my life, which tends to be a problem sometimes... OK so it tends to be a problem all of the time. I've really learned a lot in the last few months on how to relax and be OK with not having complete control. I think it has really helped my marriage and my relationship with others.

I keep a very detailed excel spreadsheet of our finances. I know when every bill is due, where are money is going, and how much we spend and I know to the penny at all times how much money is in my checking account. Sean, on the other hand, has no clue how much money he has in his account, how many bills we have, or when they are due and to be honest, I like it that way. He relies on me to tell him and I have control and I like it!

In the first few months after Sean lost his job, I freaked out. I wasn't nice to Sean because I was stressed about paying the bills and Sean wasn't worried about it. It made me mad he didn't worry. He let me keep up with how much money he had so I felt as if the burden of worrying was on me. Which now I see was stupid no one is supposed to worry, it doesn't help. I was always worried, always upset, always mad a Sean, always wondering why God allowed this to happen. I was always griping and stressing about every bill until we somehow scraped up enough money to pay them. Sean and I hated each other, we fought constantly and I realized that Money really is the root of all evil.

When I read Isaiah 55:8-9 I realized that God had just slapped me in the face. This verse said to me.."Hey, Control Freak! Stop Worrying!! Your ideas and your 'way' sucks! You will never ever be able to control God's path for you and Sean. Stressing about paying the bills, and worrying that you aren't going to make it is such a waste of time and is just like telling God you don't believe in Him because you don't believe He can take care of you. God's ways are so much higher than you ever could be.. so get off your high horse and just chill out.!!!" I immediately asked God to forgive me for not believing in Him and to help me always remember He is in control.

I've written that verse on Post It's and hung them everywhere. I've shared it with all my friends. Since that slap in the face, God has provided all we need to pay the bills plus some! Just when I think we won't be able to pay the bill, God provides the money to us in some form or fashion and it all turns out fine.

Since I've learned to relax and not worry about things I can't control, my life has been a lot happier. My relationship with God has strengthened and Sean and I have gotten along perfectly.

I still have to stop and recite this verse when I start getting stressed out, and it has helped me so much!! Maybe it can help you too! Thanks for listening to me ramble about my problems!!

Don't forget about my Give Away! The People at Betty Crocker want to send you free fruit roll ups!!

Rodeo Weekend

Well we had a Great Weekend had the Arkansas Rodeo Finals!! Sean ended the year in First place and won a Trophy Saddle and Buckle. I'm so proud of him! He placed second in the average at the finals and won one of the three rounds. Here is a picture of all the steer wrestlers in the Finals...they are all short and stocky...the typical build of the Steer Wrestler. ha!Thursday Night Sean was the last guy to run his steer. The time to beat was a 5.7. Sean completely showed off, throwing down his steer in 4.7 seconds, winning the round! I was super ticked because my camera died about 2 minutes before Sean's run..go figure..

Friday Night Sean drew a steer that was a very fast...and I mean fast.

Just FYI there are many many different factors in having a good run on a steer. The bulldogger has to be good, the horse has to be good, the hazing horse has to be good, and the steer HAS to be good. Other wise, things go wrong.

Sean's Steer was so fast that he didn't catch him until the very end of the pen making his time a long 8 seconds. This really disappointed Sean because it put him third in the average instead of first...the photo below really made me feel bad for him. You can tell he was a little sad.

Saturday Night Sean drew another sucky steer that almost tripped Frosty, his horse, but somehow Sean caught the steer and had another long time. His total time of all three nights was 22.3 which normally would be horrible, but because the Steers were bad he ended up second in the average. His spirits picked up on Saturday and his goofy self showed up during the awards ceremony. I asked him to take a picture with his buckle and to smile...

...this is what I got.

Then I told him to shut his mouth and smile and I got this....Finally he smiled. I swear...taking a picture of Sean with a normal smile on his face is like pulling teeth!
Here is Sean's Saddle. It's a really nice tooled Cactus Saddle.

Here's his new buckle. I already put it on his belt. Guess it won't be shiny for much longer after he steer wrestles in it a couple times!

We had a really great time hanging out at the Arkansas Finals Rodeo this year! Every night we hung out after the rodeo with everyone and they played guitars and talked about rodeo stories...which turned out to be quite interesting and quite hilarious. Well we're rodeo free until weekend after next where we will go to Ft Smith for the Regional Rodeo Finals (which includes mostly people from AR, OK, & part of TX.) Sean leads the year in the Regional Association by about 300.00 so he HAS to do really good in the finals to win the year and the saddle and buckle. So keep him in mind weekend after next!!

Mini Tour

It's Tuesday! Three more days until the weekend! (four if you count today) Lately I've had the best time playing with my new camera! I'm learning all about how to focus and all about lighting and I'm also learning that I need to save up some money for new lenses!

Yesterday afternoon, I went on a walk around part of the Circle T and thought I would show you a few of the shots in a little piece I'd like to call....
Circle T Tuesday Tour! Say that five times fast.


These are all photos of my "back yard." Can you see my shadow across the ravine??
And of course my Chocolate Children came along with me! They swam in the river until I made them leave. I was being carried away my mosquito's and gnats.
I don't know why I took this picture but it turned out kind of cool. When the river floods like it did last week, it brings up all kinds of things, logs are one of them. They are scattered all along the river bank.

We also have an abundance of bones laying around. Remember the Steer head Sean found? Usually we just find random bones laying around like these. I think this cow as struck by lighting...


I took this picture to practice on my focusing skills. I didn't realize the dogs were in the picture..so it turned out pretty neat.

I took a ton more but I'll spare you. If you have any suggestions on how to take better pictures let me know!! I'm dying for advice!
And just because that was such a boring post, check out the sweet Halloween Decor you can score at Pier One! I bought the candles and the wreath! I couldn't find the candy basket, but how cute would that be to serve candy to all the little trick-or-treaters?? Pretty sure we won't have
any of those this year... oh well Happy Tuesday!

Read this post ok?

This post is really long but I'm demanding you to read it! I'm super excited about it!

I've been really busy this weekend/week!! I spent the weekend in Ft. Smith at my Grandparents house. My grandfather celebrated is 86th birthday. He has Macular Degeneration so he can't see real well anymore and my Grandmother broke her hip for the second time and they have confined her to a wheelchair because she walked too soon after the first brake. Anywhoo needless to say they can't get around well and needed some help cleaning out a closet full of pictures and documents.

I really feel as though I stumbled upon a gold mine because apparently back in the 60's the "in" thing was using a camera that produced slides, and I found them all! They were all my mothers baby/toddler pictures and she really thought she was adopted because of the lack of baby pictures of her but they were just on slides. I spent all day Saturday looking at all the baby pictures of my mom and her sister.

I also got a pretty good dose of family history. I learned all about both sides of my family as far back as my great great great great grandparents. My great great great great grandfather was full blood Indian (Native American-whatever) and my great great great aunt died on top of Crowley's Ridge when she leaned back too far in her Rocking Chair and fell backwards and the pipe she was smoking lodged down her throat and killed her! I also found out my Great grandmother came to Arkansas from Iowa and she kept a diary and from reading it I learned how to make Lye Soap and how to skin a hog and that they traveled from Iowa in a wagon and walked most the way behind it!! And I also found out that My great Grandfather got his arm cut off when he was young because he stuck it in a cotton Gin.


I also found tons of old newspapers from the Ft Smith Papers. The headlines read "The President has been shot." !!! I know right! It was all the coverage on the Kennedy Assinatation, and I mean all of it! So cool..

The thing I'm most excited about though is all the things I found of my Grandfather's, Second Lieutenant, Hobart "Wayne" Treadway Air Force Pilot. Grandad served in WWII and was a Pilot of a B-17 Bomber plane. After 18 missions he was shot down over Germany and Held prisoner for three long months until he was liberated at the end of the war in 1945. Anyway Guess what I found?? EVERYTHING that ever had to do with his time spent in the war. I mean letters home, letters to him, his pilot log, his discharge papers, his graduation papers his flight books, his weather books, pictures of him and his graduating class. Pictures of him and his crew in front of his plane. I found Telegrams from the Army to my grandmother telling her he was MIA I found telegrams to her saying he was found. I found his papers from Germany when they registered him in the German POW Camp. I found it all baby!!!

I'm a huge History lover so I confiscated everything and I'm preserving it and putting it all in a big book. I bought everything yesterday and I'm SOOO excited to do this for him. He was so happy that I was so interested in it and we sat and talked for hours about war stories. I'll start posting Photos and Scanning documents to you can see what I'm seeing. I'll also let you in on some of the stories he told... It's so cool! Maybe I'm the only nerd that likes stuff like this but it's History and I love it!


P.S. I LEAVE IN THE MORNING FOR GULF SHORES ALABAMA TO SPEND THE REST OF THE WEEK LOUNGING ON THE BEACH! ENJOY YOUR WORK WEEK :) I'LL BE SUNTANNING!

Not so Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday will contain lots of words and no pictures. Sorry to disappoint my 5 readers.



Today our beloved house/outside cat, Snip died. He was black with four white feet, a white diamond chest, and a white strip on his chin. He looked like he was wearing a tuxedo at all times, kind of funny. He had a slight weight problem, slobbered like a dog, and always tried to claw you when you petted him.

I wasn't that close to him because of the slober and claws but but my sister really was. They aren't real sure what happened to him yet. They think some type of virus and maybe even rabies. There has been an outbreak of rabid skunks in the county and Dad killed a raccoon last weekend that he thinks might have been infected. It was acting all strange. They had to cut the cat's head off to send it in to test for rabies and it devastated my sister. It is kind of sad for her that she can't bury him...with a head anyway.

I am a dog lover so I don't get to attached to cats. I find them quite annoying, though in college I did buy a Persian cat for some silly reason. Because my Dad forbid me. I was attached to Miller at first, but I slowly became detached from him when he started peeing on everything and ruined lots of clothes and furniture. I gave him to my Grandmother who finally got tired of the pee problem and gave him away to some poor unsuspecting fool sweet woman.

I was surprised to hear mom tell me that Snip died. My mother has a history of keeping to herself when the cats die, she told us they (air quotes) "ran away." This started at an early age.

At 8 we were told that Boots "ran away". I'm pretty sure Mom and Dad found him dead in the storage shed, I still haven't gotten that one out of them. I think they feel bad because us small children looked for him for years. Leah actually thought we found him like 10 years later. A stray cat came up for food and Leah was certain he was Boots, he left a few days later, much to Leah's disappointment. The poor thing was probably confused as to why my sister kept calling him Boots and wouldn't quit chasing him around the yard.

Then there was Lucky, who turned out to be not so Lucky. Lucky was Snip's mom. She showed up at our barn with four kittens about 10 years ago. Me and my sisters were just in heaven playing with four small kittens. We gave two of them away and kept the other two, Snip, and Dolly--who is still alive and enormously huge pleasantly plump. Lucky met her maker one day in a hay pallet incident that we won't talk about. Mom just said she "ran away." Mom and Dad finally let me in on the secret but I was not to tell the other girls. I still don't think they know.... well I guess they do now if they are reading. Sorry to break it to you like this girls. She was a good Cat and received a good burial. I'm sorry you couldn't attend.

I also had a cat named Popcorn, she was a calico. I was the only one she'd let touch her. She died at the ripe old age of 15 while I was away at college and Mom didn't tell me for like two months. I came home for Thanksgiving and couldn't find Pop and I asked Leah if she'd seen her, Leah's reply was, "Oh she's around here somewhere." At Christmas when I came home again and couldn't find Popcorn I asked Mom where she was. Mom replied, "Ohhh, Jenna she died before Thanksgiving. I didn't want to tell you until you asked." I was so pissed shocked. Leah had lied to my face! I confronted her on the situation of course and she explained, "Well she was around here somewhere, she's buried in the back yard." Thanks Leah, real sweet.

I guess Mom has realized that I am now a "big Girl" and can handle cat deaths as soon as they happen because she called me and told me we had a tragedy this morning, which really scared me. I was quite relieved to hear it was the cat and not a person. I guess she still doesn't think I'm old enough to know about the tooth fairy and the Easter Bunny though. She hasn't told me they "ran away" yet.

It's a boy.. & a girl!!

No I'm not having children, and no I'm not talking about the chocolate children. I'm talking about my new roomies A & R! A couple that Sean knows through bulldogging from New Mexico has come to stay with us for a few weeks. At first I was a little leery of this because I don't know them that well, (Sean Does) but so far it's been great. They have been here since Monday and I'm pretty sure I've gained one million pounds because of all the amazing food we've eaten. A is an amazing cook. Being from New Mexico and all she loves to cook spicy food so everything she's cooked has been really hot! We went to the grocery store last night and I'm pretty sure she cleared out their jalapeno stock. She also loves to clean so it's ok with me if they stay FOREVER!

I wasn't aware of this because I've never really been out west in the summer but apparently they have NO humidity out there. Poor A wanted to know why her hair was starting to curl and then when I explained to her the humidity here in Arkansas was the culprit, she asked when it was going to go away. I didn't really have the heart to tell her NEVER. I wonder if she thinks my hair is just naturally frizzy and kinky curly?

We've been at the arena almost every night and A & R are slowly exercising their horses out because they are afraid they will kill over in this heat... or maybe they are just pretending to work their horses can't handle it because they are afraid they will kill over themselves?? To tell you the truth I'm a little afraid I'll kill over in this heat!! It's so stinking hot. I'm pretty sure an egg would've fried on my forehead last night.

R is a very good steer wrestler and is currently winning the Turquoise Circuit in the PRCA (it includes some of the south western states) He decided to come out this way to hit some of the Rodeo's in the area with Sean for the next few months.

**S Job update** Sean got a call from a friend of his Dad's who had recommended him for a pretty great job. Sean applied and so far things look pretty hopeful! The job isn't available until after summer so S will get to bulldog all he wants. He's doing some odds and end jobs on the farm right now which includes hauling hay in 100 degree heat. I feel a little sorry for him as I sit in my air conditioned office. As a matter of fact I need to turn on my space heater on because I'm a little chilly.

Stay Cool Out There!